Google Unveils $79 Daydream View VR Headset, Attempts To Reduce VR's Complexity (theverge.com)

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Google Unveils $79 Daydream View VR Headset, Attempts To Reduce VR's Complexity (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on Tuesday October 4, 2016 @07:20AM from the another-go-at-VR dept.

With its Cardboard, Google showed the world (and other companies) how people can experience VR without spending a premium for it. Today, on the sidelines of Pixel announcements, Google outlined its next step in the nascent technology category. Enter Daydream View VR, a $79 headset that is more comfortable and friendly, and with more capabilities. The Daydream VR comes with a Daydream controller, which has three-degrees-of-freedom. The Verge adds: The goal of Daydream View is to make a VR headset people can get their phones into and out of within a few seconds. To that end, it's revealed a few new features. When you put an unlocked phone on the front panel, an NFC chip will tell it to launch Daydream, after which you can close the panel and start using the headset. When you latch it shut with the elastic loop on the top, a pair of rubber nubs on the face will help the phone detect its position and automatically center the image. While we've already seen the basic Daydream controller design, Google is now showing it off as an actual piece of hardware. The controller has one home button and one menu button, plus a clickable trackpad on the end, volume buttons on one side, and internal sensors that can detect motion -- it can't tell your absolute position in space like Oculus Touch or the HTC Vive, but it can sense which direction it's pointing, and loosely follow your hand. When you're not using it, the controller fits into a slot on the inside of the headset, so the whole device is self-contained.Here's the official blogpost with more details.

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Pixel Only? by rockmuelle · 2016-10-04 07:26 · Score: 4, Interesting

So, it's really $79 + a new phone + potentially switching providers.
Google definitely made VR available to everyone with this one!
1. Re:Pixel Only? by barc0001 · 2016-10-04 07:32 · Score: 1
  
  "Currently, Daydream is only working on Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL phones, but the View is supposed to hold any phone that ends up supporting the platform "
  They made the API available is what I take away from that. So if it isn't supporting other phones, maybe ask your vendor of choice why not.
2. Re:Pixel Only? by Luthair · 2016-10-04 07:34 · Score: 1
  
  Really it should support existing devices, consider most people take 2-3 years between upgrading so if you did so recently you're SOL for years.
3. Re:Pixel Only? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  No, not Pixel only. Pixel is just the first compatible phone. So, if you want it today then yes, you have to buy a Pixel phone (Daydream VR is included with the phone). No need to switch providers, you can buy an unlocked Pixel. Or, if you don't want to spend more than $79, then you have to be patient until a your next phone which will likely be compatible as well.
4. Re:Pixel Only? by known_coward_69 · 2016-10-04 07:41 · Score: 1
  
  or instead of being patient, just buy one of the existing products on the market that will work with today's devices and forget this turd
5. Re:Pixel Only? by sexconker · 2016-10-04 08:03 · Score: 1
  
  And by the time Daydream's certification requirements, specs, API, etc. is available for OEMs and they have a chance to release products for it, Google will drop it and move on to some other shit.
6. Re:Pixel Only? by barc0001 · 2016-10-04 08:08 · Score: 2
  
  I'm interpreting it as a software problem instead of a hardware one. I imagine it will already do everything but support the handheld remote and the NFC sensor with every phone out there, and the remote should be a quick driver write away. I have a knock-off Cardboard that everything works on my G3 except the magnetic click sensor for example.
7. Re:Pixel Only? by Bob_Who · 2016-10-04 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  Google definitely made VR available to everyone with this one!
  So, can we all run out buy it at a local retailer on Black Friday ? This is better than Tickle me Elmo!! I want to meet Triumph the Insult Dog in the lines Walmart!
  Buy! Buy! Buy!
8. Re:Pixel Only? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 08:26 · Score: 0
  
  Your apparent desire to strap a phone to your face is probably more than just a "software problem".
9. Re:Pixel Only? by Hadlock · 2016-10-04 08:46 · Score: 1
  
  You can still buy the unlocked version, or get it through project fi (google's cell carrier), just like any nexus phone. Partnering with Verizon is more of a marketing ploy than anything
  
  --
  moox. for a new generation.
10. Re:Pixel Only? by EndlessNameless · 2016-10-04 09:02 · Score: 2
  
  just buy one of the existing products on the market that will work with today's devices
  You mean all of the proprietary solutions like the Gear and the Rift?
  Where you can choose between being locked to one hardware vendor or one notoriously capricious platform?
  
  forget this turd
  I rather like the idea of an open VR API, and I look forward to seeing how this develops.
  But your opinion is good too. I heard you can polish turds, after all, so there is some hope for you.
  
  --
  
  ---
  According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
11. Re:Pixel Only? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 09:06 · Score: 0
  
  is only working on
  
  You mean "only works on". Fucking pakis.
12. Re:Pixel Only? by krisbrowne42 · 2016-10-04 09:13 · Score: 1
  
  If this can be used as a Cardboard VR viewer it might be worth it just for that, the design looks like it sucks less than most of the ones I've seen...
13. Re:Pixel Only? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 11:41 · Score: 0
  
  Where you can choose between being locked to one hardware vendor or one notoriously capricious platform?
  You'd instead prefer this device, which is locked to a single phone model released by the most notoriously capricious company?
  Google doesn't stick to open platforms for very long, if their history tells us anything. Hell, this whole VR kick of theirs might be suddenly abandoned at any moment.
14. Re:Pixel Only? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 15:33 · Score: 0
  
  I think you don't understand what Daydream is. It is open. Many phones released during the next year will, and probably nearly all phones after that. Pixel phones are just the first to be released that meet the specs required to run it. Think if it as an upgraded version of Cardboard... though it will be Android only, no Apple support.
15. Re:Pixel Only? by Gavagai80 · 2016-10-04 17:24 · Score: 1
  
  VR is at least 2-3 years from being truly mainstream, so I can see why google wouldn't be concerned about supporting current devices. 'Course the problem is that they'll cancel it in a couple years because it hasn't dominated the market yet.
  
  --
  This space intentionally left blank
16. Re:Pixel Only? by jareth-0205 · 2016-10-05 00:46 · Score: 1
  
  It's likely that the gyros in most current phones are not accurate enough for VR to work acceptably. They were never specced out for something so sensitive.
17. Re:Pixel Only? by jareth-0205 · 2016-10-05 00:49 · Score: 2
  
  And by the time Daydream's certification requirements, specs, API, etc. is available for OEMs and they have a chance to release products for it, Google will drop it and move on to some other shit.
  To be fair, though Google are fairly harsh about killing off their own products, they've been pretty consistent about supporting and developing Android stuff atleast.
18. Re:Pixel Only? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-05 02:36 · Score: 0
  
  Why doesn't it just work like all of the other Cardboard style units out there? Then it would work with any phone.
  Oh that's right, Google wants you to pay out of the ass for one of their Pixel phones.
19. Re:Pixel Only? by WaffleMonster · 2016-10-05 06:12 · Score: 1
  
  You mean all of the proprietary solutions like the Gear and the Rift?
  Where you can choose between being locked to one hardware vendor or one notoriously capricious platform?
  This isn't a big deal right now because all HMDs do the same thing and translation shims are not all that difficult to implement.
  What we desperately need is more competition in the HMD space with multiple vendors pushing optics, tracking, and VR specific display technologies.
  
  I rather like the idea of an open VR API, and I look forward to seeing how this develops.
  But your opinion is good too. I heard you can polish turds, after all, so there is some hope for you.
  Google is a little late. There is already a well architected solution introduced some 15 years ago with broad industry support: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
  Or we can have companies like Facebook, Google and HTC reinvent piecemeal solutions and pass it off as progress.
20. Re:Pixel Only? by sexconker · 2016-10-05 06:43 · Score: 1
  
  They love killing products and APIs people use. Remember Reader? Latitude? Useful Google Voice? Hangouts with merged SMS conversations?
  The fact that they also kill of shit like Wave and Buzz doesn't matter.
  As for Android, remember SD support? Remember informative permission descriptions? Remember being able to root without Google's "SafetyNet" helping apps block rooted devices? Remember useful file browsers that didn't need root access?
21. Re:Pixel Only? by jareth-0205 · 2016-10-05 08:21 · Score: 1
  
  OK, I'll give you the permission descriptions - that's annoying, but SD card support is still in the OS (and continues to get better in new releases). You can't claim they're killing a feature just because they haven't released a subsequent product that contains it. The other things also come down to security fixes - and that's a damned-if-they-do-damned-if-they-don't problem.
  Latitude still exists as part of Google+ (I know, ew, but things change). And yes some stuff we like gets cancelled. Such is the internet.
cool story bro by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 07:32 · Score: 0

I look forward to kicking your ass if I ever see you using one.
1. Re:cool story bro by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 07:37 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? Iâ(TM)ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and Iâ(TM)ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and Iâ(TM)m the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. Youâ(TM)re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and thatâ(TM)s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little âoecleverâ comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldnâ(TM)t, you didnâ(TM)t, and now youâ(TM)re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. Youâ(TM)re fucking dead, kiddo.
  Now let me use my VR headset in peace. Fucking n00bs.
2. Re:cool story bro by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 08:34 · Score: 0
  
  lolollolol
  hahahaha
  mod parent up!
  lol
3. Re:cool story bro by Falos · 2016-10-04 09:21 · Score: 1
  
  Internet badass -> Mocking internet badass -> Mocking mockery -> Meta analysis
  
  If someone demands my lunch money in bitcoins we'll complete the loop.
Enough SLASHVERTISEMENT for today by fbobraga · 2016-10-04 07:35 · Score: 1

https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... https://hardware.slashdot.org/...
1. Re:Enough SLASHVERTISEMENT for today by wjcofkc · 2016-10-04 08:02 · Score: 1
  
  It's not that I don't understand where you are coming from, but a lot of people have been waiting for todays event. This is legit.
  
  --
  Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
2. Re: Enough SLASHVERTISEMENT for today by Luthair · 2016-10-04 09:56 · Score: 1
  
  This is at least technology news for nerds, unlike the the uber & Tesla press releases that occur several times a week.
3. Re:Enough SLASHVERTISEMENT for today by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 15:59 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah? And where are you on FP posts about Microsoft almost every fucking day?
4. Re: Enough SLASHVERTISEMENT for today by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 21:09 · Score: 0
  
  What is an "FP post"?
VR done wrong way by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 07:40 · Score: 0

I would want VR but I definitely don't want to use my phone and neither my laptop etc. for VR.
It needs to be a completely independent device!
Plenty such devices on market already by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 07:46 · Score: 1

Google were first out with the Cardboard concept that actually used real cardboard for low cost, but other manufacturers have been producing "proper" headsets using Cardboard's approach for a while now.
In the UK, the Farnell Group company CPC offers several brands of this type of headset, and the cheapest costs under 10 UK pounds. Google's a bit late to this market, and overpriced.
Please stop toying around with phones by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 07:49 · Score: 1

VR needs high resolution, like 4K minimum per eye. A headset with tracking is a nice novelty, but the effect wears off quickly without adequate image quality.
1. Re:Please stop toying around with phones by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-05 03:06 · Score: 0
  
  Oculus Rift is 461 PPI. Pixel phone is 441 PPI.
  Note that 4K is a pixel count, not a resolution. A 4K 24" monitor has a different resolution than a 4K 50" monitor.
2. Re:Please stop toying around with phones by WaffleMonster · 2016-10-05 05:41 · Score: 1
  
  Oculus Rift is 461 PPI. Pixel phone is 441 PPI.
  Note that 4K is a pixel count, not a resolution. A 4K 24" monitor has a different resolution than a 4K 50" monitor.
  Comparing HMD PPI to smart phone displays is worthless because subpixels have a significant impact on quality in VR. Most cell phones cheese out on this shit for marketing reasons knowing full well that users are incapable of seeing a difference anyway.
3. Re:Please stop toying around with phones by WaffleMonster · 2016-10-05 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  A headset with tracking is a nice novelty, but the effect wears off quickly without adequate image quality.
  As someone who has tried both 6DOF and 3DOF HMDs ... 3DOF = puke fest. The moment you translate without the scene moving accordingly is a recipe for instant nausea. 6DOF isn't a gimmick or novelty it is an absolute requirement.
Not better than Rift or Vive so no point. by WaffleMonster · 2016-10-04 08:21 · Score: 0

The already low bar for passible VR has been set. Anyone failing to meet or exceed is DOA as far as I'm concerned.
Other than a portable "big screen" for watching 2D content on the go I'm not sure what the point of any of this is other than giving VR in general a bad reputation with vintage graphics, crummy optics, inferior tracking and phones that run their batteries down and overheat after minutes of use.
Were all four of the Monkees on stage too? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 08:35 · Score: 0

Daydream believer?
If you can't be with the one you love love the one you're with?
Nope. Face it. Tech REALITY is boring and only short-term hype can sell, or Apple.
no they unvieled cardboard pro by Lumpy · 2016-10-04 09:20 · Score: 2

This is a phone holder, nothing more. you have been able to get these for years now.
Come on google, give us Glass 2.0 or throw your weight behind real VR.

--
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Xiaomi VR Headset $20 by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-04 09:49 · Score: 0

Same thing pretty much
Attaching your phone to your face? by um...+Lucas · 2016-10-04 23:10 · Score: 1

Why does your phone need to be strapped into this device that then gets wrapped around your face? Cant the two communicate via Wifi or even Bluetooth? Or must it have USB connectivity? Seems silly. Googles got smart folks, so I figure its for a good reason, I just can't imagine what that reason is.
1. Re:Attaching your phone to your face? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-05 06:47 · Score: 0
  
  The cost would be much more than $79, what you're asking for is the Oculus Rift which is $600. Your phone is lightweight, has a high-res 2K (for the Pixel anyway) screen that is perfect for VR. Why not strap it to your face?